Hélder Domingos Soares de Barros is a Santoméan

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and former minister of finance and economic coordination in São Tomé and Príncipe. He was a candidate for the presidency of his country in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. In his early twenties Hélder Barros contributed to the struggle for independence of the

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by hosting radio programs for the independence movement from

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. He graduated with a M.Econ. from

California Coast University California Coast University (CCU) is a private for-profit online university based in Santa Ana, California. It is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission and approved by the State of California. It enrolls approximately 8,000 ...

, and joined the UN in 1982 in Niger. In the following decades, he worked on conflict resolution in several African countries under the mandate of the organization. Barros was coordinator for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Office for Project Services in northern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and subsequently returned to Africa as Special Assistant for the United Nations mission in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

(2002–2003), and between 2008 and 2014 he was Head of Office for the UN mission in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. From 1987 to 1989, Barros completed

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

studies in

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at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. He was minister of finance and economic coordination between 7 July 1994 and 25 October 1994 and again from 26 September 2001 to 28 March 2002 in the governments led by Evaristo de Carvalho from

Independent Democratic Action The Independent Democratic Action () is a political party in São Tomé and Príncipe. It was established in 1994 by the then president Miguel Trovoada and is a politically centrist party. It took part in the 29 July 2001 presidential election ...

References

External links

News article

Hélder Barros anuncia candidatura às presidenciais de Julho próximo (''Helder Barros Announced his Candidate for the Presidentials Next July'')
TVS, 17 June 2016, accessed on 8 October 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Barros, Helder Year of birth missing (living people) Finance ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Government ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Living people São Tomé and Príncipe economists